The Bucket List
by massiveholbyfan125
Summary: After Tara's death, Jonny comes up with the idea of 'A Bucket List' as his and everyone else's lives is put into perspective. Some are more reluctant than others but when Jonny announces they should put a one year time limit on the ten ideas they come up with, Hanssen,Serena,Jac,Jonny,Michael,Elliot,Mo and Malick all have to pull together to try and complete it. Just some fun :D x
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This is set near Christmas (because I think snow will be involved later on as like a background thing coz I love it!) and this chapter is sort of a build up to how they get the whole idea of 'The Bucket List'! Oh and Jac and Jonny are together because they're too cute to not be together! Please enjoy and drop a review!xx**

"Do you know what?" Jac grinned at her colleagues all surrounding a table in Albie's.  
"No, but I bet you gonna tell us!" Michael replied, the high amount of alcohol he'd already consumed that evening making him laugh at his own, stupid comment. Serena rolled her eyes at her friend's drunk reaction before, like everyone else, turning back to Jac for an elaboration.  
"Damn right I am! I'm actually going to say it guys. Ready – listen carefully, this will be the first and last time you'll hear these words come from me – Merry Christmas for a few days' time suckers!" She laughed, holding her glass up. "Merry Christmas to someone who'd care more about Baby Jesus if he was in Kate Middleton's uterus." Most of the male members of staff pulled at face of disgust and everyone also raised their glasses, clashing them randomly with whoever's glass they could reach, as was the case when one was toasting with a big number of people.  
"I didn't realise you were into this whole festive-holiday stuff, Jac!" Elliot observed lightly, leaning around Hanssen to address Jac.  
"I'm not." She shrugged, taking a sip of her wine. For at least a little longer she was going to keep her icy façade, at least until she had enough wine to use an excuse for being _soft. _A word not in the consultant's dictionary.  
"Are too! I distinctly remember you stealing a choccie from the Nurse's station this morning!" Jonny grinned, knowing full well the young consultant was in denial.  
"Shut up!" She retorted sharply, half-glaring at the Scottish Nurse next to her.  
"Or what? Will Santa put coal in my sack?" Jonny pouted, taking a swig of beer from the bottle in his hand.  
"Santa!" Serena snorted, before Jac had the chance. "Don't tell me mummy and daddy haven't already told you they do the presents." Jonny's face fell in mock shock and hurt.  
"What Ms Campbell?" He whispered, purposefully taking on a theatrically dramatic tone. "You're telling me he's not real?!"  
"Of course he is!" Everyone looked up in surprise when they heard Hanssen answer.  
"What?" Serena smiled to the Swede sat next to her. "You believe in the big bearded fellow?"  
"Indeed." Hanssen nodded. Serena and Jac both glanced at the glass of wine in his hand. Perhaps it had been a mistake inviting him along, God's knows it had taken most of their shifts on their knees before he'd even considered their invitation. "Well how else do you explain the pile of presents at the end of my bed?" He replied logically to Serena's sceptically raised eyebrow.  
"Right." She said slowly, throwing him a look suitable for a man escaped from a Mental Asylum. A cross between fear, worry and disbelief.  
"I don't really." He reassured her with a small smile.  
"Well, why you guys hang around talking Santa Claus and Christmas decorations, I'm going to get the next round in. Serena?" Jac said, already standing up without waiting for an answer.  
"Sure." Serena also stood and joined the waiting red-head at the bar. Jac placed their orders, generally ordering 'same again's' for almost everyone.  
"Do we think we should get Hanssen a soft drink – just to be on the safe side?" Jac whispered to Serena, who smirked in response.  
"Poor man!" She smiled, glancing over her shoulder and back at the table they were all inhabiting. "Perhaps we shouldn't have forced him here! Not really his cup of tea, as it were, is it?"  
"Why did we drag him here?"  
"Tara." She replied simply. It was obvious to anyone who'd spent half a minute with the Swede recently that he was more affected than most by the F1's tragic death. She watched as Michael, in an attempt to get to the toilet, trip drunkenly over Mo's legs, to lose balance completely and fall backwards onto a completely unexpecting Hanssen. "Actually, do you know what, make that a diet coke for me." Serena laughed, wishing she could access CCTV as she watched Michael's stammered apologies.  
"-two beers and a diet coke for her." Serena turned back in time to hear Jac finish off their order.  
"Sure. Will Diet Pepsi be OK?" The barkeeper asked, flustered. Serena doubted he'd been out of college a day.  
"Will Monopoly money OK?" Jac asked icily, immediately turning on the intimidating demeanour usually reserved for F1's. It seemed even those who didn't know her were scared to death as the barkeeper shrunk back slightly under her stern gaze.  
"Right. One diet coke it is." He smiled nervously.  
"Good man." Jac glared patronisingly. "He is cruelly depriving some village somewhere of an idiot." She added under her breath to an amused Serena.

When they returned to the table, desperately trying to keep a hold on the numerous beers and wine everyone had ordered (bar Mo who felt the need to order a gin-and-tonic as she didn't want to be to 'mainstream' as she put it), Michael was still missing and everyone else still seemed to be in a deep conversation about Christmas. As she resumed her seat next to Jonny, Jac caught the words 'men' and 'presents'.  
"We're aren't that bad!" Elliot protested to Mo's obviously offensive comment.  
"Elliot! 99.9% of the time a woman's worst present has been from men and the rest of the 0.1% is because they didn't bother in the first place!" Jac laughed.  
"Yeah, exactly what she said!" Serena added, also sitting down. Jac noticed that for some reason Serena had slipped into Michael's empty space next to Hanssen, and not the one she was in before.  
"Women are happy enough to stereotype men as Bad Present Buyers but you don't appreciate how much effort goes into buying a present that awful!" Jonny pointed out. Jac rolled her eyes and handed him Mo's gin and tonic to pass on to her. He obliged, but playfully took a massive mouthful just before he handed it to her. Mo slapped him lightly before snatching what was left of her drink.  
"I was gonna send you something awesome this Christmas Jac!" He grinned when Mo had successfully wiped the side of the glass the Scot had drunk from with a grimace.  
"Oh yeah?" She asked, a disbelieving eyebrow raised.  
"Yeah but the postman told me to get out of the post box…" He sighed melodramatically. Elliot laughed while Serena and Jac stared, stony faced.  
"Must me a male thing." Jac finally concluded and Serena nodded in agreement.  
"Stupid enough." She shook her head in disbelief but with a hint of amusement.  
"Women. They think so much of themselves, don't they?!" Jonny mocked. Hanssen glanced at Serena sat next to him. This looked like it was going to be one hell of a battle between the sexes.  
"That's because we should. Prove we're not better." She challenged, a dangerous glint in her eye.  
"Ok…God created men first."  
"That's because every masterpiece has a draft." She quipped immediately. "Do continue."  
Jonny swallowed. That was the only strong point he had and the alcohol wasn't making his brain work as fast as he wanted.  
"And that proves my point." Serena smirked at his silence. Jonny just huffed and folded his arms childishly while Jac smirked.  
"One nil to the girls!" She grinned. Mo, Serena and Jac all clinked glasses with a self-satisfied smirk painted on each of their faces. The men watched this exchange with glares. Nothing was worse than a man with a damaged ego.  
"At least we're not so frickin difficult to buy for." Jonny mumbled, taking a dejected mouthful of beer.  
"We're not! You're just too dense to realise what we want!" Jac scoffed. Jonny remained silent, still looking slightly peeved.  
"Wait until you get a teenager, Maconie, they're worse!" Serena assured him, still relishing the victory. Hanssen _almost _smiled at the smug look etched on her face. 'She would've made Connie Beauchamp proud' he thought dryly.  
"Can't be. You just shove a bunch of toys in a sack around midnight and say 'Look, Santa's come and gave you all these presents and has eaten the cookies and drank the milk you left for him!' while you're thinking, 'that fat loser gets all the credit for this!'" Jac shrugged dismissively.  
"Yes, but that's when they're toddlers. Teenagers are a nightmare! The worst mistake you could make is to ask a teenage girl 'have you done your Christmas list yet?' A new mobile phone, make-up, an Ipod, designer clothes-" It didn't take a genius to work out that Serena was probably just listing of the items on the list her daughter had given her.  
"Great." Jac replied flatly. "There's me thinking Christmas was about family and love and all that shit."  
"Yeah, that's what they all say! The best bit is when you get to queue for hours in a shopping mall for your child to see 'Santa'." Serena smiled in a sarcastically cheery tone. Jac's face contorted into a look of disgust.  
"Eeew! No thanks!" She grimaced quickly.  
"Oh, it's all part of it Jac, you'll love it!"  
"Oh, yes. I can't _wait _to have a flamboyantly dressed stranger grope my children." Jac quipped dryly.  
"_Your _children? Ughh…who'd be desperate enough to go there?" They all turned at this new but familiar voice. Michael threw a glance out of the corner of his eye to his old seat and clearly realised Serena was occupying it. Not thinking much of it, he just slipped into her previous seat.  
"Funny Michael funny. Look at how genuinely funny I found that." Jac glared. Everyone turned to face her and she stared back, looking as neutral and slightly bored as ever. "That funny." She clarified, signalling her blank face. Michael just rolled his eyes in response before picking up his almost empty bottle of beer to drain it.  
"Who's up for some real fun?" He grinned mischievously. Everyone took that as their cue to glance nervously around at each other. A drunk American's and their ideas of 'real fun' were obviously never going to be the same.  
"As long as it doesn't include quad-biking, mountain climbing or wild, unlimited sex, sure." Serena shrugged.  
"Nah, that's for experts, we'll start at basics." Clearly a space, he placed his recently-emptied bottle of beer in the middle of the table, equal distance from everyone surrounding it. "Spin the bottle!" Serena raised an unimpressed eyebrow.  
"Do you know what Spin the bottle is?" She asked.  
"Not Spin the Bottle as you're thinking of it, Truth and Dare decided by Spin the Bottle." He grinned.  
"Your idea of 'real fun' is Truth and Dare? Oh dear, just imagine your interpretation of 'extreme thrills'!" She commented sceptically.  
"You can scorn all you like, Rena, but only skilful dudes can make Truth and Dare fun. You in?" Serena nodded, followed by Jonny, Elliot and then Jac. Hanssen remained unresponsive, never one for getting himself involved in something he had no idea of what the implications were.  
"Mr Hanssen?" Michael asked. Serena glanced at him and immediately saw his objection before it had escaped him.  
"Yeah, he's in." She answered quickly.  
"Who knew I could talk without saying anything?" He quipped, throwing the empty beer bottle a nervous glance. His aloof and buttoned up exterior meaning even as a student, he'd never played any of these kind of games.  
"Go for it then." Mo dared. Michael grinned and he reached out. With a flick of his wrist, the bottle was sent spinning around in circles. After a few moments, the speed of the bottle began decreasing until it finally came to rest. Everyone's gaze followed the direction of the bottle to see who it was pointing at.  
"Mr Hanssen." Jonny swallowed. Serena and Jac glanced at Hanssen. He didn't seem outwardly bothered by the face he was about to be subjected to a truth or dare, but they were sure he was inwardly panicking.  
"Ok." Michael smiled, watching Hanssen carefully, not doubting that he would come up with some tactic to get out of it. "Truth or dare?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey people! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! This is a ridiculously long chapter I know! I had to look all of these truth and dare questions up (like Michael) as I haven't had much experience in really wacky truth or dare games (like Hanssen!) Hope you enjoy, and please leave a review! :D xx**

_"Ok." Michael smiled, watching Hanssen carefully, not doubting that he would come up with some tactic to get out of it. "Truth or dare?" _

Serena hazarded a probably realistic guest that the Swede was in a very tricky situation. He'd never been one to happily spread his business around the world, so 'truth' wouldn't be his favourite option. But then again he was definitely going to prefer that over running round the block three times naked singing 'Hallelujah' or something.

"Truth." He replied slowly, seeming to have the same train of thought as the woman sat next to him. Michael nodded and sat for a few moments, thinking of ideas. Anyone else he'd ask them the most embarrassing question that popped into his head, but this was Henrik Hanssen and he still wanted his job by the end of it.

"Come on Michael, let's not wait for the grass to grow." Jac said briskly. After a few more futile moments, Michael sighed his annoyance before pulling his phone out.

"I can't think of any, I'll have to look some up." Pulling up his Google app, he opened the first promising website. As he read some of them, he had to bite his lip to stop himself laughing. Tempted as he was to ask Hanssen 'When was the 1st time you had sex?' or 'If you were to choose a person, you know personally, for a threesome, who would it be?' He decided against it, guessing he'd probably lose more than his job if he did. "Ok, what song describes the person opposite you when you first met them?" He read before looking up to see it was Jac. You could almost see the sudden change in Hanssen as the relief spread through him. He looked thoughtful for a moment, after all many songs could describe Jac Naylor, but he seemed to have an answer almost immediately.

"I think Avril Lavigne's 'The Best Damn Thing'." He smiled. Jac smirked proudly while everyone else, although in complete agreement, wondered whether this was a compliment or not.

**And yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a lot to handle,  
You don't know trouble, I'm a hell of a scandal  
Me, I'm a scene, I'm a drama queen  
I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen  
**Definitely Jac Naylor; always ready to make a scene and it was her God-like complex that made Hanssen think of this song. He often realised that Jac had taken over more than just Connie's job, she seemed to be an exact replacement.

After some intense discussion, the next person to spin the bottle was decided. Jonny was desperate to go next but Jac won and not for the first time that evening, Jonny was sat with his arms folded, in a childish sulk. Jac's spin lasted a lot longer than Michael's and when it finally slowed, Hanssen had a terrible feeling it was going to stop on him again. Luckily though, it stopped just before him to face Serena.

"Dare." She answered quickly before anyone had the chance to ask. Jac turned to the sulky Nurse next to her.

"Help me pick a dare?" She smiled lightly in an attempt to cheer him up. If he was in a good mood it would be a lot more fun, she concluded, trying to ignore the fact she _wanted _him to be happy. It seemed to have the desired effect as a grin broke across his face and he nodded. Michael lent them his phone and they scrolled through the different ideas whilst everyone watched. Jonny pointed to one with an amused snort and Jac began laughing. Serena looked slightly worried at this and hoped to God it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Jac handed her the phone and pointed out the one she wanted her to complete.

_Get a random stranger's phone number and ask them for a condom._

Serena shook her head in disbelief.

"You've got to be joking!" She groaned. Michael and Hanssen, who had read the dare over her shoulder, had very different reactions. Michael was laughing manically along with Jac and Jonny while Hanssen was staring at Serena with a look between feeling sorry for her and looking very amused. "Please. This is a joke yeah?"

Jac shook her head. "Go get condoms, girl!" She grinned. Serena glared but knew she was going to have to do it. She entered this bloody game, so she was going to have to complete it.

"Fine." She stood up, threw everyone one last glare and glanced around the pub to choose her victim.

"She's not going to do it." Michael sneered, watching her hesitate. "She's all mouth and no trousers." At this, Serena bristled and folded her arms.

"Eat your words you cocky yank."

"20 quid says you don't."

"Oh, you're on!" She hissed, before taking a deep breath and heading in the direction of the bar. She casually approached a man sitting at the bar, and above the music, they couldn't hear what she was saying.

"She's actually doing it!" Jac exclaimed. The man seemed to like what Serena said, as he gave her an appreciative look up and down. "Who's that?" She asked, referring to a young blonde near to where Serena was standing.

"Dunno." Mo shrugged, having followed Jac's gaze. The other's all backed Mo's answer. Jac was confused; so if no one knew her, why was she staring at smiling over at their table? A sudden thought hit her and she followed the girl's gaze more carefully. She ended up looking at the Scottish Nurse next to her. Jac glared and the jealous streak in her reared its ugly head. So, she thought she could eye _her _boyfriend up did she?

"Looks like you have an admirer, Maconie." Jac said sharply. Jonny eye's widened but he couldn't deny the truth in her words.

"Don't know what you mean." He shrugged, picking up his drink dismissively.

"You do!" She persisted, carefully watching him. No time like the present to see how much she meant to him, she concluded.

"Oh, so she fancies me. Who doesn't?" He grinned cheekily, smiling pointedly at Jac.

"She's coming over!" Michael observed. Jac looked up quickly while Jonny snorted into his drink.

"What?" He said, looking over in what he thought was a casual way. Michael was right. She approached casually, smiling lightly at Jonny. Michael nudged Hanssen and Elliot – who in turn nudged Mo – warning them to remain as discrete as possible.

"Hi!" She greeted breezily. "I'm Rachel!" She hadn't removed her gaze from Jonny's.

"Hi Rachel. Are you lost?" Jac glared icily.

"Sorry!" Rachel smiled, looking away from Jonny to Jac. "What did you say? Anyway." She continued, not waiting for an answer. "Me and my friends are playing a game of Truth and dare-"

"Great minds." Jonny smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, you too! Great! Anyway, I've been given a dare, and I was wondering if I could borrow for a few minutes to help me out?" Jonny stared wordlessly at Rachel then at a trying to look neutral Jac.

"Sure." He started slowly. Jac rolled her eyes. She knew he didn't want to, but as ever, he was too much of a softie to say no.

"Thanks!" She grinned. "The straight hair look really suit you, you know." She added to Jac. Hanssen heard a sceptical snort coming from the red-head's general direction. "You look really scary! Like Jack Frost. What's your name?"

"Jac." She replied, not missing a beat. Rachel's mouth fell open.

"Very funny! That's a boy's name! Don't tell me, your surnames Frost!" Jac raised a vexed eyebrow and stared stony-faced.

"No, Jac Naylor, cardiothoracic consultant surgeon and Director of Surgery at Holby City hospital." Rachel's eyes widened as the realisation of how important Jac was and the fact that her name really was Jac hit her. "So, now if you would just-"

"Oh, right. Anyway,"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did the end of my sentence interrupt the start of yours?" Jac asked coolly, eyeing the girl up as a cat would a mouse.

"No, I..uh… Anyway," She stumbled, turning to Jonny, not wanting to speak to the sharp-tongued consultant again. "Shall we?"

"Sure." He stood and followed her to the bar, where her friends were waiting.

"_The straight hair look really suit you, you know." _Jac snorted, mimicking the bubbly blonde. "Wish I could say the same. Look at the state of her! Showing cleavage doesn't fix her face!" ("At least she has cleavage," Michael added under his breath) "And I think she accidently got a bit of face on her make-up. Did she do her make-up before she left or did she just get gangbanged by Crayola?" Everyone smirked their response and Jac looked up to find Hanssen staring at her in a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"What?" She asked.

You know, it is considered _rude_ to steal someone's job title without asking." He commented dryly.

"I didn't steal! Merely borrowed to make myself look as impressive as I am." She retorted.

"Not as impressive as me!" A slow drawl interrupted. They looked up to find Serena grinning at them. In her left hand she clutched what looked like an empty cigarette packet which she was looking at proudly. "Phone number," She smirked smugly, throwing it down on the table. Jac could just make out a biro scribble on it. "Wasn't that hard." She decided not to add the fact that he was an old friend of her ex-husbands, who she knew for a fact fancied her, and he'd been willing to help out when she'd explained everything.

"Don't act modest, you're not that great." Michael rolled his eyes sarcastically. While Mo commented something about 'quick work'.

"Err..Serena. There was two parts to the dare." Elliot coughed pointedly. Serena looked mildly surprised before giving a look of feign realisation.

"Oh, this." She pulled something everyone immediately recognised out of her pocket and held it between two fingers for the whole table to see. Jac snorted loudly while everyone else stared, impressed. A small smile tugged at the corners of Hanssen's mouth.

"What kind of a man carries one in their pocket at a pub?!" Jac demanded in disbelief. Serena shrugged before tossing it at Jac. She immediately batted it to Elliot, who dumped it on Mo, who threw it back at Serena.

"Well, don't all rush for it at once will you?!" She joked. She wasn't feeling mean enough to chuck it back at Jac, she didn't think she'd ever seen Mo with a man, she doubted Elliot had had sex since his wife died, Michael would probably do something dead embarrassing with it which left… She smiled wickedly at Hanssen.

"Merry Christmas." She grinned, holding it out. He raised an unimpressed eyebrow and fixed her with a stony look. Serena shrugged with a 'Can't blame me for trying' before chucking it in the middle of the table. "You guys are going to have to complete some of the worst dares ever for this. Do you know how awkward it is going up to a guy like 'yeah, hi, can I have your phone number? Great, now give me a condom'." As she passed Michael to get to her chair, he held a twenty pound note up which she snatched with a grin. She slumped down in her chair next to Hanssen with a sigh. She glared at her empty coke glass before looking over at Hanssen's still full wine glass. Deciding risking it was far worse than having no wine at all, she simply lent over and took his glass from in front of him.

"By all means Ms Campbell, do feel free to take my drink." He quipped, watching her in annoyance as she sipped from the glass.

"Shall we have the next go while we're waiting for Andy Murray?" Michael suggested, not doubted that Hanssen would personally take his jacket and smother Serena with the upmost pleasure. No doubt many would find it a vast improvement. After more heated debate, it was decided that Elliot should take the next round. As they waited for the bottle to slow, Jac was surprised to find how un-boring she was finding this. It slowed to face Michael, who whooped his delight and immediately opted for dare, guessing it wouldn't be anything bad if Elliot was deciding. Serena's look made his smile falter slightly and she turned to Elliot, offering to help him decide. Michael shook his head discretely at Elliot, but not realising, the cardio consultant accepted Serena's offer gratefully. Serena stood and knelt between Elliot and Mo and the three of them decided Michael's fate using the American's phone.

"One of them is go to Australia!" Serena read out loud. "What kind of an idiot could just go to other end of the world for a dare?"

"Simon Cowell? He's got millions!" Mo sighed enviously.

"That's one for the bucket list though isn't? Australia!" Jac said thoughtfully.

"You surprise me. I always had you down as a Barbados type of girl Ms Naylor." Hanssen quipped.

"Ok, this one." Elliot announced before Jac could answer. "'Sit on the person to your right's lap for the next complete round.'" He read aloud. Even with Serena's manipulative nature, she couldn't persuade him to make Michael do something horrifically embarrassing but hilarious for her.

"Sure thing! Sit down then Campbell." He grinned.

"No, Michael. As that dare was read, I wasn't sitting. So…" They all looked to Michael's right. Hanssen stared back and glanced to his left where Michael was sitting.

"Meh…" Michael shrugged. "Sorry, Mr H, but ya know." He clambered across Serena's empty chair and then delicately sat on the edge of unwilling Hanssen's lap. Deciding to go for all it was worth, he shrugged and shuffled back, so he was sat firmly in Hanssen's lap. Serena and Jac laughed loudly while Hanssen had a completely opposite reaction. "Come on Mr H." Michael grinned cheerfully. He picked up Hanssen's limp arms and wrapped them around himself. Hanssen made an attempt to push the American off, but Michael held tight, using Hanssen's arms to make sure he remained seated.

"Jaaaaaccc!" Michel called from his new position. "Pass me my drink." Jac stared at Michael's drink for a few moments, before looking back to Mo to finish the conversation they'd started on the worst dares they'd ever received.

"Why do you always have to be so unpleasant, Ms Naylor?" Elliot sighed, pushing his drink closer to him. Michael smiled appreciatively and picked it up gratefully.

"I like to be consistent." Jac said, barely looking up. Even with an American lump on his lap, Hanssen couldn't help but smile. If anything, she was definitely consistent! "Someone get me a drink." She demanded. "Actually, I'll go. Mr Hanssen, can I borrow some money?" Everyone looked at her in surprise. As a cardiothoracic consultant with no family to support, Jac would definitely have more than enough money to buy a whole flipping pub. "What?" She shrugged. "Always borrow money from a pessimist, they don't expect to be paid back."

"Thank you, Ms Naylor." Hanssen replied sarcastically. Nevertheless, he gestured to his jacket, hanging over the back of his chair, before looking at the laid-back (quite literally) American trapping him. Understanding, Jac stood and helped herself to his wallet. "I want the next round sorted by my return, Ok?" She turned and stalked off, purposefully approaching the bar near where Jonny still was. Mo watched her go, resisting the urge to stand and bow majestically. She often wondered what her best friend saw in the Ice Queen.

"She spoke. Mo, you next." Elliot announced. Mo sighed impatiently, watching the Scot. She didn't want to start her go without her mate (Jonny always used to come up with the best ones whenever they'd played it before) but she doubted she had a choice. As she watched the spinning bottle slow after setting it spinning, she racked her brains for awesome truth questions. After two dares in a row, she'd come to the conclusion that the receiver would be sure to pick Truth. Sure enough, when it slowed to Elliot, he immediately asked for a Truth. Mo came up with a question, refusing the help of Michael's phone. ("Where was your first kiss and who with?")

"Ooh, well, it was in the School Playground behind the sheds when I was about twelve." He blushed nervously. Mo looked generally surprised.

"Really? Was that allowed back in the day? I thought you had to be married." She commented. "Like in Titanic, Jack and Rose could've been arrested for the _things _they did."

"Titanic?! I'm not that old, Ms Effanga!" He protested. "I can't remember her name, I just remember she was three months younger than me."

"Behind the sheds and you can't remember her name? Come on, tell me what idiot said romance was dead!" Serena grinned cheekily.

"Oh, right, yeah, where was yours then?" Michael challenged. "Bet it was in some bushes."

"Not my turn to answer." She replied smartly. Michael rolled his eyes at her Hanssen-like diversion tactics. She definitely learnt from the best, he thought wryly. "Anyway, you can hardly take the moral high-ground." She smirked, looking pointedly at the Swede he was sitting on.

"Touché." He acknowledged, shifting – much to Hanssen's displeasure – to get comfier. Seeing as though there was no Jac to stir, the decision of who was going to spin next was made much quicker and easier. Serena set the bottle spinning, a lot faster than anyone had so far. Michael draped his free arm – that wasn't busy holding a beer bottle – around Hanssen's shoulders. 'Might as well make it as awkward as possible' he thought cheerily. Hanssen gave yet another futile attempt to throw him off, only causing Michael's grip to tighten and to mumble something along the lines of 'a dare's a dare'. Serena took yet another mental picture of this moment, stashing away somewhere in her mind to bring out at a later date to tease Michael and definitely Hanssen relentlessly about. Hanssen was busy watching the bottle as Serena caught Michael's eye.

"Ooh, Henrik." She mouthed, a massive grin spread across her face. "Ooh, please… I need you…I love you Henrik." Mo, who been watching, snorted loudly, catching the attention of a suspicious Hanssen. She fleetingly wondered how he could look so calm, composed and aloof as ever in a pub. With one of his consultants clinging to him.

"Michael, again!" Elliot followed the neck of the now still bottle.

"No, he's only just been. Do Mr Hanssen." Serena immediately interjected. She was determined to get Hanssen to do as many rounds as she could, just for her own pleasure. She tried to ignore the little voice in the back of her mind telling her she was a little sadistic.

"Truth, then."

"Nope, dare. Truth's a chicken way out." That sharp tone could be recognised anywhere. "Good, no arguments. Dare it is! Jesus Christ guys, get an imagination!" She sighed, watching as Serena began scrolling through the pages of dares on Michael's phone.

"Hello, pot, my name's kettle. Pleased to meet you." Mo replied sarcastically. Jac rolled her eyes and paused behind Serena on her way to her chair. She pointed to one with a smirk and Serena laughed.

"'_Ask someone out and go through it. _I don't think so, you're not the kind of person to just ask someone out, are you?" Serena questioned, glancing at Hanssen.

"He would! Wouldn't you?" Jac argued, also looking at Hanssen.

"Nah, he wouldn't!"

"He would!"

"Wouldn't!"

"Can I just-" Hanssen started.

"No, shut up!" They both exclaimed. Hanssen raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

"You would, wouldn't you?" Jac asked. She never backed down easily and she wasn't about to start now.

"Well, if you'd let me finish-"

"In all the time I've worked with you, I've never even seen you look at a woman! Back me up here, I'm trying to get you out of this!" Serena interrupted again. "You don't want to ask someone out."

"Is that a fact?" He shot back. He immediately regretted it, she was right so why was he now arguing? Serena looked mildly surprise.

"Yes."

"Nice to know. Are we telepathic?"

"Naturally. Go on then, ask someone. That your dare."

"No."

"Yes. I did try to get you out of it, but you seem intent on not accepting my help so go for it."

"Change it, please. I'm accepting it now."

"Too late."

"Who, then?"

"That's up to you!"

Jac smiled slightly as she watched them arguing. 'Sizzling' she thought lightly. Hanssen remained silent and stared stony-faced at the opposite wall. "What?" He demanded as everyone looked knowingly back at him.

"Ask her Henrik!" They all replied simultaneously.

"Excuse me?"

"I haven't seen chemistry like that since Dan and Malick." Jac whistled, her eyes shining mischievously.

"Hilarious, Naylor that was so bloody hilarious." Serena glared. Michael's sighed slightly before deciding to lighten the atmosphere. Twisting slightly, he wrapped his arms tightly around Hanssen's neck before burying his head into Hanssen's shoulder. Jac and Serena guessed what he was up to, but Elliot and Mo just stared at him worriedly, although of course he couldn't see them. When Michael began howling loudly into his shoulder, Hanssen looked nervous as this scene caught the attention of some of the other people in the pub, including Jonny.

"Mr Spence?" He asked. "What. Are. You. Doing?" He choked, as Michael's grip tightened. He seemed to have lost control completely and his sobs only grew louder.

"I…I…don't like it when Mommy and Daddy argue." He sobbed. More and more people began looking over.

"Mr Spence, we weren't arguing!" Hanssen sighed, a little smile playing around his lips. "We were simply… disagreeing."

"Same thing!" Hanssen's shoulder muffled some of Michael's noise, but barely any of it.

"Please stop." He begged, but the American seemed intent on his charade.

"I can't. I'm too distraught." Came Michael's screeched answer.

Serena rolled her eyes and shot an apologetic glance at Hanssen with a mouthed 'sorry'. Jac took the opposite approach and just began laughing uncontrollably.

"Michael, I suggest you stop crying immediately or I'll give you something to truly yell about." Serena warned, her tone acquiring a dangerously steely tone.

"Will you come to a compromise over this dare?" Serena groaned and but nodded grudgingly.

"Sure." She glared. Michael sat up happily, detached himself from his tall boss with a massive grin etched across his face. "You're a moron!" Serena complained.

"Hey, I'm not a moron!" He protested, smiling politely at a very unimpressed Swede.

"Well you're doing a perfect impersonation." Hanssen added. "Now, please, Mr Spence stand up, we've had more than one round." Michael groaned, mumbling something about being comfortable, but stood nevertheless. Jac looked at a relieved-Hanssen strangely and almost knowingly.

"You." She said, turning to Mo. "Don't you have work tomorrow?" Mo nodded. Jac questioned everyone around the table and they all gave the same response. "Well. Come on! We can't stay here all night, can we? How about all our salaries put together on a take-away, some more wine and Jonny's flat? That way we can kip as and when." Elliot and Michael nodded happily while Mo shrugged. "Unless some of us need to go home to family?" She looked pointedly at Serena.

"No way! I'm in. I'm supposed to be on shift now but Ric swapped with me so as far as Eleanor's concerned…" Jac nodded at her logic.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Christmas?" Elliot smiled, already standing up. Mo joined him followed by Michael.

"Elliot, Mo, Michael, Serena why don't you go ahead and get the take-away? Me and Mr Hanssen will wait for Maconie. Shouldn't take more than two of us to handle him." Jac said briskly. Mo and Elliot set off, deep in conversation in whether to order Chinese, Pizza or Indian. Michael followed after apologising repeatedly to the Swede about the whole sitting-on-lap thing.

"Oi, you!" Serena called. The man at the bar she was addressing, along with a couple of other nosy women, looked over. "You can take that back." Serena glanced to the middle of the table. The man followed her gaze and smirked. Serena nodded her exit to Jac and clapped Hanssen on the shoulder before turning on her heel to leave.

"Thank you." Hanssen nodded when their colleagues had piled out of the pub.

"What for?" Jac shrugged innocently.

"Distracting them from the dare."

"Anytime. It won't last for ever, you know. What are you going to do about it?" She asked, looking over at Jonny to give Hanssen the chance not to answer if he didn't want to.

"Nothing."

"You should ask her. Even if you do only discuss patient waiting times. She won't bite you know." Jac looked away from Jonny and glanced coyly at Hanssen. "Unless you ask." He gave a small smile and shook his head slightly.

"That's all very well, but I'm not interested in going on a date with Ms Campbell, thank you." He shot her a stern look, informing her he was being honest.

"Fair enough, we wouldn't want any domestics between mum and dad in the middle of theatre would we? Should you change your mind, be honest. The last thing a woman wants is a man who's a right dick head. Be yourself, yeah, for some reason we love all that six and a half foot aloof and cold Swede just the way you are." Hanssen smiled down at her.

"Don't go all soft on me, please, I might have to trade you in."

"I'm not as people say I am." She sighed. All this gush was probably coming directly from the bottle of wine she'd drunk.

"No, you're much worse." The usually absent friendly tone in his voice allowed her to infer he was teasing. "It's always a funny thing, a heart surgeon without a heart."

"Ah, the wise words of Rafi. And I'll shall repeat my words to him, I have a heart, it's the organ that pumps blood around my body."

"Shall we go and get Nurse Maconie?" The mention of Rafi suddenly dampened his mood. Jac sensed it was probably the mention of that gas monkey that had caused a sudden darkness to cross his face.

"Sure. That's the therapy talk over anyway, send my check in the post." The mood seemed to have lifted and he smiled again, He looked like he was about to reply when a familiar shout of Jac's name interrupted. A shout she normally only heard when Jonny was calling her in an emergency with a patient. Both her and Hanssen's head whipped around to see Jonny standing by the bar, holding a man clearly in pain up. The 24/7 doctors in them engaged on autopilot and they both jumped up and sprinted over.

"What happened?" Jac demanded, as she and Jonny lowered the man into a chair.

"We were-" Jonny started.

"Actually, I don't give a shit. Symptoms? And will someone get my stethoscope from my bag?" Hanssen obliged immediately.

"Sudden chest pains and breathlessness." Jonny informed her as she listened intently to the heartbeat through the stethoscope.

"Ok, Mr Whoever, are your chest pains coming from just one side of your chest?" She asked, running through the mental checklist of what could be wrong with him. The man nodded, clutching his chest with a grimace and painful shouts. Jac looked at Jonny.

"Pneumothorax. We need to get him to hospital, now." She said sharply.

"I'll call an ambulance." He went to pull his phone out of his pocket but Jac stopped him.

"We'll drive him, it'll be quicker. Come on, you, get up. Now." She made a move to help him out of the chair, but the man's pain seemed to overtake him and he didn't give Jac any assistance in getting up. "Move or you die. You're choice."

"Jac!" Jonny sighed lightly. "A little humanity wouldn't go amiss."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll sing it next time while doing an Irish jig. Would you rather me be diplomatic and him die or blunt and him live?"

"Spare us." Hanssen answered, hurrying forward to assist Jac with the man. "When have you ever been diplomatic?" Jac grinned.

"Good man. Now let's get this guy to your perfect hospital shall we?"

Three quarters of an hour later, Jac, Jonny and Hanssen were all sat in Jac and Elliot's shared office. Seeing as though Serena had drunk his last glass of wine, Hanssen had only had one glass so he'd driven them back to the hospital. Jac couldn't stop a little dry dig about the squeaky-clean Henrik Hanssen going manic as he went over the speed limit. He'd replied with a curt 'medical emergency'. Ollie had taken over when they rushed the pneumothorax man into the hospital and he was now safely asleep in a Darwin bed.

"Well, this is hardly the takeaway and alcohol night I'd planned." Jac sighed, busy clearing her already immaculate desk. Hanssen watched her from his position at Elliot's desk before glancing down at desk in front of him. "I've warned him about it before." Jac seemed to have read his thoughts regarding the state of the middle-aged consultant's desk. "One time, he started tidying it but his pager kept interrupting. I stole it after the fifth time and told Elliot he'd spilt coffee on it and I had took it to get it repaired." Hanssen shook his head with a hint of amusement. "What?! I am an angel really! The horns are just there to keep the halo up straight." Jonny smiled from his position at the window.

"So he's not the youngest, fittest or tidiest tool in the box but he's a genius." Jonny smiled. "Anyway, what are we still doing here?"

"Dunno, really." Jac looked thoughtful. She'd given up clearing away and just swung her legs up on her desk. "Don't you think it's strange? Like, the way that man just went all of a sudden."

"He did have an existing condition though." Jonny pointed out the information they'd learnt from his notes.

"Yeah, but even still. Like, you don't know when your time is, do you? Any day could be your last." She stared at her trainers, wondering where all the hell this had come from.

Jonny smiled lightly at her. "Like Tara. One day she was one of the most promising F1's, her whole life ahead of her, married. The next…" Jac looked up at him.

"Yeah, like Tara." They seemed to be having one of their undying love declaration moments through their looks and Hanssen felt a bit awkward. "She won't ever get to go to Australia or whatever that dare said."

"We could do it. Some kind of bucket list. As a team, in her memory." Jonny looked ridiculously proud of his idea. Jac and Hanssen took a less enthusiastic approach.

"What?" Jac asked incredulously.

"We all get together and come up with say ten things we've always wanted to do but never got round to doing it, like I've always wanted to go camping, and we complete them. Like Tara's legacy."

"Camping?!" Jac grimaced. "How much alcohol have you had?"

"You're definitively focusing on the wrong part!" Jonny said impatiently.

"Oh, fuck it, I'm in!" Jonny had to resist punching his arm in the air.

"Really? My bucket list idea?"

"No, your orgy idea." She glared sarcastically. He was about to reply when the door swung open and Ollie greeted them with a smile.

"Ms Naylor. Your pneumothorax is stressing out." He informed her, hand still on the door handle.

"I'm off shift, Valentine. Why's he stressing?"

"His wife's arrived and she thinks he's had a heart attack or something. Keeps shouting at me to shock him." Jac snorted and rolled her eyes. Over reactive relatives was a species she was more than familiar with.

"Just keep calm and keep her calm. If you're calm, she's calm. If she's calm he's calm. It's all about the calm." Ollie nodded his thanks and rushed back out of the room, the door closing behind him with a loud bang for it only to be swung back open again.

"Someone order a Chicken Chow Mein?" Mo grinned lightly, holding a warm bag up proudly as she strode into the office.

"Me!" Jonny grinned back, hurrying forward and snatching the bag from her. Elliot and Serena followed after, also carrying food bags. "Where's the American?"

"There." Jac nodded as Michael entered, carrying a bunch of plastic chairs. Elliot waved Hanssen's gesture of giving him his chair back away and instead took a chair from Michael. Serena and Mo followed suit and Jonny perched himself on the edge of Jac's desk.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jac asked sceptically.

"You wanted a takeaway with us lot, so we got one. Not exactly Jonny's flat but we can chill here for a while." Mo shrugged.

"Health and Safety won't be too impressed." Hanssen pointed out, but accepted the paper plate Michael offered regardless.

"Who gives a shit, I need food." Jac swung her legs from her desk and stood to help herself to the Chinese. "Mr Hanssen, a sweet and sour dip in exchange for a re-opened Cardiac Trauma Unit?"

"Funny." Hanssen replied in his usual dead-pan way.

"Guess what?" Jonny grinned, tipping practically all of the egg fried rice carton on his plate, causing Michael to glare and scoop most of it off and onto his own plate. "Jac's in. Shall we do it? The Bucket List?" Everyone looked back at him in confusion. Realising immediately, Jonny and Jac quickly ran through his idea. Michael handed around the cups of fizzy drinks thoughtfully when they'd finished.

"So, you guys in?" They all nodded cheerfully, some more enthusiastic than others.

"Yes." Everyone was surprised to hear Hanssen answer. He smiled at them. "For Tara?"

Jonny held his glass up slightly. "For Tara." Everyone followed suit and took a deep drink. Jonny glanced behind him to find Jac had decided to ignore their emotional gesture.

"What?" She shrugged, wrapping a big bunch of noodles around her plastic fork. "Me starving isn't going to bring her back is it?" Everyone smiled slightly and soon conversation was thick about what events they could do.

"We need someone else so there's an even number." Elliot suggested as Michael generously applied chips to his plate. "Make it more fun, you know, have a partner."

"That's a brilliant idea!" Jonny agreed, looking more and more excited.

"Calm down Maconie you might pee yourself." Jac quipped sarcastically. Jonny just ignored her, now used to Jac's behaviour.

"Who shall we ask?" Serena questioned, though she looked more interested in her fraying cardigan.

"We need someone strong, sensibly serious but a lot of fun."

"Someone who-" They were interrupted as yet again the door swung open, as if on cue.

"Care if I join the party?" Malick grinned, strutting into the room. "I was called up here for a GS consult but I can smell Chinese a mile off. You guys might wanna pop down to Keller. Some guy's got himself so drunk he swallowed every single one of his mate's car keys. You gotta come check it out!" Everyone looked knowingly at each other and Malick smiled nervously.

"Malick." Jac smiled sweetly. "We need to ask you something…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Thank you so much for your lovely reviews, glad you're enjoying it! Hope you like this update! Please review and let me know!XX :D**

"So what are you saying? You want to create a bucket list?" Malick asked incredulously. Jonny had just run through his idea and now Malick was staring at him like he'd just proposed to go on a unicorn ride.

"Yes, have you been listening at all?" Jac demanded impatiently. She was starting to feel tired and the long shift ahead of her tomorrow wasn't brightening her horizons at all. Malick looked thoughtful as he glanced around the room. He wasn't at all surprised to see the likes of Elliot, Mo, Michael and Jonny participating but the stone-hearted Jac and Hanssen surprised him. He concluded that even the most heartless of people were affected by the big D word.

"Yeah, ok." He nodded, deciding if he could impress Hanssen by taking part nothing could be lost. "On one condition…" Serena groaned resolutely as he turned to face her.

"Fine, you can have Ric's list tomorrow, he's off anyway." She agreed to the unasked but obvious question. "Saves me reorganizing it."

"Get in! That's gonna be some sexy surgery time for me!" Malick grinned happily. "Just no camping, yeah?" Jonny's face fell and Jac cheered, glad she wasn't the only one who didn't want sleep under the stars, as it were, a.k.a in the middle of nowhere, freezing and achy when it came to the morning after a night of sleeping on a hard ground. Jonny looked like he was about to protest when a familiar ringing filled the room.

"Oops!" Serena grinned cheerfully, shoving her plate at Malick before searching her pockets for the offender. Finding it, she accepted the call and put her phone on loud speaker before clearing a small space on Elliot's desk to dump it.

"Hello." She greeted, snatching her plate back as Malick looked suspiciously like he was going to wolf it down in one go, having not even spared a thought for food after the last 18 hour shift he'd almost completed.

"Ms Campbell?" Chantelle's cheery voice drifted through the mobile. "I know your off shift and everything but Malick texted me saying you're in Darwin." Serena glared up at Malick who shrugged apologetically. "See, I have a patient here, Mr Knight, and I'm having a few problems. He won't sign consent as he seems to think he's going to die during his operation tomorrow." Serena gave a short, disbelieving laugh. As the surgeon, she obviously had every faith in herself and the procedure and delays like this infuriated her.

"Mr Knight. Isn't he my elective Hernia? Have you told him he's in the best hands, it's a straight-forward op with minimal risk, you know the drill."

"Of course, Ms Campbell. But, you see, he seems to think the world is going to end."

"Oh, well let's hope they pay us early then." Jac interjected cheerfully.

"Why the hell does he think that?" Serena demanded, trying to keep her voice calm.

"I really don't know, Ms Campbell. I know it's a big ask but will you come and talk to him? Mr Griffin's in back to back emergency surgery, we need his consent and it might reassure him, you know, seeing the surgeon who's going to cut him open." Serena threw a plate a dejected glance before concluding it was too good to be true to think she could eat it.

"This is against protocol right?" She asked a Hanssen, who expectantly agreed. "In that case I'll do it." She metaphorically waved away Chantelle's repeated thanks you's and apologies and hung up. Thrusting her plate back at Malick who accepted it eagerly, she exited with a 'I'll be back'. On her way out, Ollie brushed past her and hurried back into Jac and Elliot's office.

"Ms Naylor. Mr pneumothorax man is seriously stressing out. He's thinks he has cancer and won't stop harassing me for tests." He sighed, looking almost apologetic for interrupting her again. He'd had a long shift and the last thing he needed was a guy he'd just manage to persuade he wasn't dying to think he had cancer.

"Uggh. Come on Valentine, what about the calm rule?" She groaned, already chucking her fork down. 'If you want something done right, do it yourself' was a saying that ran strong with her.

"Tried it. Maybe you could explain?" His tone was more pleading than plain asking. "He's scared."

"Of course he's scared, everyone's scared. This is a hospital, not Disneyland! Fine! You deal with the wife, yeah?" She froze and looked up at him awkwardly. "If you…you know…if you can."

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" He shrugged indifferently.

"Well, she is a wife, and you've recently… lost… you know." Ollie smiled at her attempt of compassion.

"Please, Naylor, kind doesn't suit you." He humoured, shifting the folders in his right arm to his left, a sign he wanted to get on.

"Right. My advice, deal with it. Work through it, pull yourself together and stop moping."

"I'm fine!"

"Just as well then." Ollie stood their expectantly for a few moments. "Well go and sort the wife then!"

"Right." He turned and hurried out of the office. Elliot pointedly cleared his throat and stared at Jac.

"What?" She shrugged, catching sight of his look as she stood up. "I thought I was quite tactful."

Ten minutes later, Jac was stood by Mr Henderson's bedside, having just explained everything that had gone on to him.

"What are you saying?" He asked, looking well and truly confused.

"I'm saying, all going well Mr Henderson, you should be out of here in a couple of days." Jac said happily, replacing his folder back in its holder at the end of his bed. She loved delivering good news, it was always easier than telling a stranger they are dying.

"What? No, what about my collapsed lung?" Jac looked up quickly. Suspicion was always the first emotion roused in her when a patient didn't seem happy with good news.

"A spontaneous pneumothorax does what it says on the tin. It occurs spontaneously. It can happen to anyone, at any time for no apparent reason." She explained, watching him carefully.

Mr Henderson seemed intent that Jac was lying as he shook his head vehemently. "But it's something else, I know it is." Clutching his chest almost protectively, he looked up at the red-head standing over him.

"Well obviously we hope that's not the case. Look, you have asthma, we know that. Obviously we will keep you monitored and rule out cystic fibrosis, aortic dissection…"

"I don't have that!" Was his shouted reply. Jac's first reaction was to glance around and check this hadn't caused too much of a scene before placing a relaxing arm on his shoulder.

"And I'm pretty sure you don't have cancer either… That's a good thing!" She couldn't understand. Something didn't seem to add up. It was like he wanted to be told something was seriously wrong with him. For a split second she sported the idea of a psychiatric consult, but this thought vanished as fast as it came and she decided to talk it over with Elliot first. "Ok? Look, I'm off shift now, but I can come and talk to you about your concerns tomorrow. You." She barked at a nearby Nurse. She immediately dropped everything and hurried to Jac's side. "Keep a close eye on Mr Henderson please. Run the usual; FBC's, U's and E's, as well as an ECG-"

"Ms Naylor." The nurse interrupted. Jac assumed she was new, she'd never seen her around before. Then again, the only nurse she paid any attention to was Jonny. The others were addressed as 'you', 'Oi!' or 'Nurse'. "Aren't you off shift? So technically-"

"Who put you in charge? Do as I say, alright?!" Jac shot back sharply. The nurse shrunk back and nodded. "And can you book him in for a CT. Please." Jac added the last word grudgingly. She liked barking orders, not begging for things.

"Right. Sure. How do I do that again? I can't work the system." The nurse stammered apologetically. That confirmed Jac's suspicions of the new girl.

"I don't know, I have people do it for me." Jac shrugged, thanking the patient. She turned and headed in the direction of the Nurse's station, the nurse following in hot pursuit.

"Wouldn't it also be worth running an echocardiogram?" She asked, trying to capture a bored Jac's attention.

"Remember when I asked your opinion? Yeah, me neither. Just run the tests, keep an eye on him and hand out lollipops or whatever it is you do, alright?"

"They're a lot more to a nurse's job than being kind you know." The nurse sighed. Jac raised a disbelieving eyebrow as she moved random items on the desk in search of the file she was looking for.

"I've always wanted to hear that." She replied sarcastically, striding off again as she found the file. Just as she reached her office door, she realised the nurse had followed her.

"Was that sarcasm?" She asked uncertainly, staring at Jac nervously as she stepped into her office and turned to face her.

"Yes. Sarcasm. Because screaming at you nurses how annoying you are and taking a brick and smacking you across the face with it is considered rude…" With that, she slammed the door loudly in the Nurses face, causing her to jump back, startled.

Jac turned around, a proud smirk on her face only to realise her colleagues had witnessed it.

"How'd it go?" Elliot asked pointedly, looking at her in a paternally stern way. When it didn't look like Hanssen was going to reprimand her on her treatment of the nurses, she returned to her usual, cocky self.

"Sometimes I amaze myself with my own brilliance." One look made Jonny jump up from the Jac's chair he'd sat down in and she resumed her position behind her desk just as, for the hundredth time that evening, the door opened.

"Hernia guy wants to meet the Big Boss, he's all yours." Serena called, barely glancing at the tall man she was addressing before sitting down next to Michael. She rolled her eyes as Malick almost hugged her plate protectively to her chest. Hanssen nodded with a comment about 'I shall deal with patients when I'm on shift thank you' before turning to the young consultant.

"The nurse was right, Ms Naylor, perhaps you should consider an echo." He suggested, almost cautiously. Not being a cardiothoracic surgeon, he didn't want to get into an argument with such a proud women who would defend her profession and skill until she was blue in the face.

"Pneumothorax guy? Perhaps you should see what the other tests show first." Serena spoke up this time. Jac looked between the two consultants at this contradictory comment.

"When we could rule anything out the echo would show now?" He replied.

"We don't know it will show anything up. It would be a waste of resources-" Was her brisk response before he interrupted.

"Hardly a waste is it? Checking an ill man hasn't got a serious underlying condition. I might go and talk to your Hernia patient actually, while I'm here." Serena raised her eyebrow at his, as always, flawless diversion techniques.

"Be my guest."

"Brilliant. Shall we?" She nodded, a hint of disbelief mingled with amusement etched on her face as he stood and exited the office in a few, Hanssen-sized strides. She followed almost immediately, not wanting to chase after him.

"So there's definitely nothing going on between them?" Jonny asked as the door swung shut behind her.

"He says he's not interested." Jac informed them dismissively, recalling their conversation in the pub.

"Yeah, and leprechauns exist! Come on, I mean if they can make sexual tension out of an echo-" He started.

"Sexual tension!" Jac snorted. "Is that what it is, is it? The new way to tell someone you're interested is to tell them they're ordering a useless test. All doctors doing it are they?"

"All Director of Surgery's and their assistants. Trust me, one minute it's an echo test, the next its two sweaty bodies grinding up against an ECG machine…" He smirked as Jac covered her ears and started up the childish chant of 'lalalala! Not listening! Lalalalala!'

On Keller, Hanssen strode purposefully on to the ward, a frustrated Serena following.

"Ah, Nurse Lane." He greeted the bubbly nurse who was stood behind the Nurse's station, clearly having an intense coffee-and-gossip night shift moment with another Nurse. "A patient wishes to see me?" Chantelle looked confused as she glanced between Hanssen and Serena.

"No, Ms Campbell." Serena quickly explained that she'd already been down but the patient wanted to speak to someone from the top. "Oh, well, follow me!" Hanssen accepted the notes handed out to him as they headed over to the patient.

"Ughh, not you again! I want someone from the top." The patient lying on the bed groaned, catching sight of Serena. She raised a vexed eyebrow but remained silent as Hanssen looked up.

"And here I am Mr…Mr…Reeves." He read from the notes. "So, you're here for an operation."

"No, he's trying the bed for firmness." Serena couldn't help herself.

He ignored her comment, deciding that would be more effective than rising to the bait. "A simple elective hernia. There really is nothing to worry about. You are in the most capable hands here with Ms Campbell."

"No! The world's going to end. It is! That evil git that came over earlier whose gonna put me under is going to never let me wake up again! TAKE THIS SERIOSULY!" He exploded as Hanssen took to discreetly glancing around the ward in a bored manner.

"I am. But I'm afraid your fears are irrational."

"Excuse me! Years! Years I've spent researching this! Trust me. Tomorrow afternoon. The world is going to end." ("Good. Saves me paying off my credit card for Christmas." Serena added under her breath to an amused Chantelle) "I know it! Scientists, ever other person doing the calculations have it wrong. See, I know things they don't. I've worked it out so accurately, so precisely. Tomorrow afternoon this world shall be no more! Why won't you believe me? You're afraid, that's why. None if you want to faced up to the fact-"

"Do you need me here or are you happy to have a conversation with yourself?" Hanssen quipped, replacing the folder he taken from the end of the bed back into its holder. "Now, if you'll excuse us." He nodded at the stressed man in the bed before turning sharply and heading in the direction of the Nurses station.

"Get him referred to psychiatrics." Serena immediately said, having followed him from the patient's bed side.

"Yes. If you could organise that, please, Nurse Lane." Chantelle nodded and hurried off to the phone on the desk. Hanssen looked like he was going to say something – no doubt about time wasters – when Serena's phone went off.

**How's Hernia guy doing? We're referring my guy for a psychiatric consult. Is the world gonna end coz if it is I'm gonna eat your share of the cake – might as well sin, we're all going to hell when we die and I'm driving the bus! Jac**

She rolled her eyes before sending back a text about 'Well, looks like psychiatrics is going to be backed up' before replacing her phone in her pocket.

"Ms Campbell!" Serena looked over at Chantelle at the call of her name. "That's all done. Now, it's empty down here so I was wondering if there's any errands or anything you want me to do for you?" She stared in disbelief.

"How are you always so cheery?"

"Well, as my mum says, 'A little happiness brightens everyone's day'!" Serena threw her hands in the air in mock surrender.

"I'm out of here, I can't do this level of joy! Enough of the madness!"

The next morning, Malick arrived next to Chantelle, stood at the Nurse's Station on Keller.

"Alright Channers?" He greeted cheerfully, relishing the prospects of the day ahead.

"Hi Mr Malick! Where are the others?" She replied with her mega-watt smile, taking a pen from the top pocket of her nurse's uniform.

"Ric's gone AWOL to see his daughter or something, Serena's in some mystery meeting, leaving us to deal with two hernias," He threw a couple of blue file folders next to the bright blonde. "One bunion." He chucked another file on top from the bunch in his hand. "And wait for it… One fatty lipoma." Chantelle smiled as she gathered the notes into a neat pile, ready to start her shift. Just as she made to move, Serena emerged through the double swinging doors, looking tired and bored.

"Ah, good meeting?" Malick asked with a smirk. Serena gave a short, sarcastic laugh before throwing down the files and folders in her arms.

"H! Lots of going forward, and blue sky thinking. I've forgotten what the meeting was even about." Malick smiled before looking suspiciously at one the papers she'd thrown done. "I've redone the list. This is how you get 12 hernias done in a six hour period. Should run like clockwork providing we don't need to eat or have a pee! My list, Ric's – now yours - list, the loser buys the team pizza. Think of it as the hernia Olympics." Malick smile broadened.

"Back-to-back surgery, that's what I like to here!" He cheered, before hurrying away from the Nurse's Station.

"Er… Mr Malick. I'll think you'll find your Hernia's that way." She pointed behind her, the opposite way Malick had gone.

"You've been to med school! Jeez… you kept that quiet. Nah, I need to visit the little boy's room – can't do with puddles in theatre can we?" He took Serena's grimace as an answer as he turned away again.

"Ms Campbell." She turned at this unexpected voice to face a six-and-a-half foot suited Swede.

"Mr Hanssen. What can I do for you?" She smiled. Theatre always cheered her up, it gave her a break from reports and statistics.

"I came to remind you of the team building seminar we're attending later this morning." She looked confused.

"Huh?" She turned back to the desk in order to find the notes for Hernia number 1.

"I sent you a reminder about a week ago. Today. Eleven-"

"Eleven thirty, Obs and gynae. Shit!" She looked from Hanssen to the newly found notes in her hand. "I can't, back to back Hernias." Hanssen raised an eyebrow but her look was enough to deter him from making a comment about her organisation.

"Well, if you can find someone to take your place, as it were. Someone who would benefit from team building skills…" A look between them confirmed they were on the same page.

"I'll give Jac a ring." She smiled pulling her phone from her pocket.

"What?!" Jac's sharp tone sounded through the phone. "A team-building seminar? Whose joke's this?" She sounded as rough as Serena felt.

"No joke Jac. As a mate, come on. Just cover for me, Hanssen'll be there."

"That's supposed to make it better! Sorry, Serena, we're snowed under."

"Please?"

"No can do. I've got a theatre list longer than Hanssen's trousers. Have fun, yeah?" She could almost picture the patronising smirk as she bid Jac goodbye and hung up.

"Chantelle, cancel my electives, tell Malick the Hernia Olympics are off, but to complete as much of his list as he can." Serena sighed. Chantelle nodded happily before hurrying off. Hanssen gave as small smile as she gave her pile of notes one last dejected glance before turning to him.

"You're going to make it up to me big time, ok?" She glared before stalking off so fast that it even took Hanssen a while to catch up with her.

Half an hour later, they were sitting at the back of a room just off Obs and Gynae. A man who looked nor behaved any older than twelve was standing at the front. He stared eagerly at his uninterested crowd, waiting for their reaction to the video he'd just shown.

"Good film, huh?" He giggled nervously.

"Yeah, Spielberg eat your heart out." Serena muttered under her breath. Hanssen smirked. If he was honest, this meeting was a crap as he'd imagined, but Serena's sarcastic comments had kept him amused, even if it was only silently. The crowd remained silent, making the jittery man even more nervous.

"Right, well, that was the video over. Now I'm going to give a little talk, a Q&A session, then we'll do some role play." Serena turned to Hanssen, a look of annoyance and disbelief etched on her face, as she hissed three words that summed everything up perfectly.

"Kill me now."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Ok, I know I haven't updated in ages, I'm sorry! We're organising a party for my Aunt and we're at the hall now to decorate it with balloons etc… My cousin was kind enough to spill blackcurrant juice down my dress so I've had to change into my scrubs, which although comfy, are not my first choice of clothing for a party. They really do make you look very unflattering so I've hidden in a side-room until my friend appears with my spare dress… Happy days! By the way, when this was started Jac wasn't pregnant but I want to include this in here so we'll have to forget she was drinking alcohol the night before and was indeed on a Luc Hemmingway style orange juice and everyone knows. Thank you for all your lovely reviews and hope you enjoy this update! xx **

Half an hour later, Serena and Hanssen were sitting comfortably in the latter's large office, discussing the progress of the doctors on AAU, Darwin and Keller. They'd managed to escape the team building seminar when Serena persuaded Michael to page them for an 'emergency' after reminding him that she'd taken an appendectomy for him just before Jasmine had left for America so he could spend more time with her.

This meeting between the Director of Surgery and the deputy DOS was originally scheduled for two hours' time but Serena had persuaded Hanssen to postpone his meeting with Terrence Cunningham and bring their meeting forward so she get home for what could be as close to on-time as she'd managed since she'd joined Holby's team.

Keller staff was deemed fine, having hit all the targets etc… Having no worries with the already-settled staff on AAU and agreeing that Harry Tressler's and Gemma Wilde's progress was more than satisfactory, they'd moved onto the staff of Darwin.

"Do we think we should mention the possibility of maternity leave in a few months' time to Ms Naylor?" Hanssen suggested, updating the patient notes before him. Serena had always the believed the 'men can't multitask' saying, but this meeting had already made that belief kick the bucket. It had only been half an hour but he'd already updated a thousand and one patient notes, answered all the emails in his inbox, made a paper-clip chain consisting of about 30 paper clips and undone it, setting each individual paperclip out neatly until they'd made a neat, 5x6 rectangle on his desk.

"If you want to waste your breath then go for it." He looked up, a vexed eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry?"

"If Mo Effanga never took maternity leave, then getting Jac Naylor to would be a physical impossibility." She sighed. "Jac's job means everything to her. It provides the most welcome distraction to the idea of being pregnant." The sudden, dark look which had crossed her face allowed him to infer that this was definitely not just an observation.

Setting his pen down next to the patient file, he interlocked his long, elegant fingers and observed her thoughtfully. Glancing up, she gave a small smile, feeling like a naughty schoolgirl under a headmaster's stern gaze. This is exactly how she'd imagined Albus Dumbledore to look at Harry Potter during their meetings about Horcruxes when she'd had time to glance at the Harry Potter books between work and Eleanor. "Why do I feel like that was more of a personal memory than a guess at how Ms Naylor feels about her pregnancy?" Her smile faltered. Many called him the 'Ice man' and believed him to hold no feelings, but he was one of the most inferring and understanding people in the hospital.

"Maybe because it is?" She glared. Her hands became a sudden interest to her as she felt his piercing gaze boring into her.

"Ms Naylor is clearly unsure about her pregnancy. She clearly wonders if she can be a half decent mother. Her doubts and qualms mean she doesn't feel comfortable confiding in Nurse Maconie." For a man who has nothing to do with his staff's personal lives, he sure knew a hell of a lot.

"And?" She couldn't understand where he was going with this.

"And so these facts lead me to question whether this is how your pregnancy with Eleanor went." Serena blinked. The atmosphere in the room a few minutes ago had been light and friendly, she could have sworn they'd even flirted slightly, but now it was heavy and uncomfortable. "Did you hide behind your job?"

"Why are you asking?" She demanded, slightly infuriated, slightly touched he'd got it so quickly.

"Because I care and it seems to be worrying you." Did he just say he _cared _about her?! 'Course not' she thought 'probably just worrying that I want be up to my "Optimum standard" if I've got something on my mind'.

"Yes, Sherlock, well done, I buried myself into work. I wouldn't change anything now, but I'd just become a consultant, just married. Then I found out I was having a baby. Hardly an _ideal_ situation is it?" She asked bitterly. She glared again when he remained looking slightly concerned, giving no other reaction. She wished he'd just tell her she was being horrible, selfish. This thought reminded her that she'd just opened up to Henrik Hanssen. Henrik Hanssen, of all bloody people.

"Right." His attention was returned to the notes before him. "I think we can leave it there. I will visit the Emergency Department tomorrow and I will inform you how my meeting with Zoe Hanna goes."

"Of course." She stood and made her way quickly to the door. She felt angry at herself for telling him what she'd never told anyone else, even her ex-husband. But one sentence from him suddenly changed that anger from herself to anger at him.

"Please close the door quietly on your way out."

Whipping around, she fixed him with her trade-mark death stare. "No I bloody wont. You ask, you receive answer. If you don't want to know-"

"Don't ask?" He finished for her. He looked very calm and slightly amused at the anger etched on her face.

"Precisely. Don't you dare give me the cold shoulder because I told you something personal." She wasn't shouting as he'd expected, instead her voice was low and soft. Dangerously soft. And this left him feeling slightly nonplussed.

"I wasn't." It was a slightly childish way to respond, but it was all he had.

"No, _of course _not." She replied sarcastically. "You're obviously way too professional for that aren't you?"

He gave no other response than an enigmatic, half-amused smile. "Will you come to Darwin with me?"

This question threw her completely off-guard and a look of confusion fleetingly crossed her face. "Excuse me?"

"Ms Naylor. I should think it might take both of us to mention the possibility of leaving her job for a while."

"Right. Sure." With that, she turned and headed to Darwin, not really caring if he followed or not.

"When you're looking for someone, this hospital suddenly seems to quadruple in size." Serena glared as they made their way to Darwin's Nurse's station. Mo and Jonny were huddled together, seemingly oblivious to the world. Serena assumed the Scot was trying to comfort his best friend about the Hattie case, but the smiles on their faces quashed that idea.

"Hey, if we did something in Sweden the Angel of Death might come along." Jonny grinned as Mo helped herself to a doughnut. "Oh, and I wouldn't do that if I were you, they're Naylor and Hope's and trust me, she's on a warpath." Mo just rolled her eyes and bit into a chocolate covered one, Jac's favourite.

"Nah, he'd go anywhere as long as his _girlfriend _goes." Mo laughed, scribbling something down.

"And who would that be?" Mo's mouth fell open, her half-eaten doughnut forgotten in her hand. Simultaneously, the both spun in their computer chairs to face the two figures looming over them. Jonny swallowed as the two consultants glared menacingly down at them.

"You, Ms Campbell." Mo closed her eyes for a few seconds in disbelief before nudging her best mate in the ribs and staring at him incredulously. "I mean-"

"Yeah, we get the point." Serena's unimpressed expression told them she would get them for this. "Nurse Maconie. I need to borrow you for a moment."

Jonny swallowed and threw his mate a pleading look. She just shrugged and accepted a scan held out to her by a passing nurse. "Sure." He stood and followed Hanssen and Serena to a spot behind one of the pillars.

"Do you know where Jac is?" Serena asked innocently. Jonny's eyes darted suspiciously between her and the Swede, unsure of whether this was a trick or not. The thing with Serena Campbell is you've got to learn her secrets have secrets, her tricks have tricks, and Jonny knew this.

"Uh… I think she's just come back from an AAU patient. She'll be in her office." He still looked slightly suspicious.

"Thank you, Nurse Maconie." Hanssen spoke this time before following Serena to where they'd been directed.

Jonny, looking utterly baffled, just shrugged and made his way back to his eagerly waiting best friend.

Walking past a locker room on their way to Jac and Elliot's shared office, Serena was taken by surprised as the door suddenly flew open. A bashful looking Elliot emerged, looking sheepishly around before emerging stealthily onto the cardiothoracic ward.

"Elliot?" He jumped, recognising Serena's voice. "What are you up to?"

"I…" A bemused smirk flitted around her mouth as the door opened again and a woman she recognised to be Ollie's psychiatrist before he left emerged.

"My, my, we've been a naughty boy haven't we Elliot?" She openly grinned.

"Ms Campbell." Sharon Kozinsky greeted, her strong American accent clear. "Mr Hanssen. See you later Elliot." With that, she nodded to the consultants and strolled off down the corridor.

"Hey!" Serena called after Elliot as he turned to do the same. "I'd change into scrubs if I were you." She approached him slowly and pointed to the stain on his collar. "Lipstick stains on your collar… now that is really too cliché."

He smiled nervously. She patted his shoulder with a proud grin before carrying on to their office.

"Ms Naylor." They stepped into the office, but fell silent when they noticed Jac was speaking down the phone.

"Is this your idea of '99% of our customers are satisfied with our services'… I bloody well don't care! If I'm booked in I expect an appointment… You know I've seen more efficiency from David Cameron… I'll have you know I'm a highly senior cardiothoracic consultant surgeon…" Jac glared before delivering her usual line. "You know I've seen untrained monkeys offer better services than you… Hello?" She glared at the phone before slamming it down. "Hung up! What twats!"

Hanssen turned to Serena, his expression translating as only one thing – perhaps not now. And Serena couldn't agree more.

"What's wrong?" Jac opened her bottom drawer and helped herself to one of the many biscuits she'd kept in there. "Oh, and how did the team-building seminar go?" Sure enough, the patronising grin Serena had imagined earlier was painted all over the red-head's face.

"Less said about that the better." Serena smiled. "First off, congratulations." Jac gave a small, awkward smile, her hand fleetingly rubbing her abdomen.

"Cheers." She nodded, finishing her biscuit with a guilty smile. "These chocolate ones are Elliot's." She finally admitted. But Serena was barely listening, her thoughts on the Jac's pregnancy. What was it she'd always wanted to do since she was pregnant? Something that would be _perfect _for a bucket list?

"Serena?" Jac and Hanssen looked slightly concerned.

"I've got it!" She grinned, her eyes shining mischievously.


End file.
